Columbia news, views & reviews has been including a favorite song of the season each day this week. We know there are hundreds of Christmas songs and each of us have personal favorites. There are classics; there are new songs; there are new versions of classics – there are so many “top Christmas” and “top holiday” song lists.

Here, for instance, are samplings of the top songs from the thousands of Websites and blogs in the cyber jungle:

Rolling Stone‘s readers’ poll:

1. John Lennon – “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
2. The Pogues – “Fairy Tale of New York”
3. Queen – “Thank God it’s Christmas”
4. Mariah Carey – All I want for Christmas is you”
5. Bruce Springstein – Santa Claus is coming to town”

You can see the entire list here – there are click-through’s for each song, too.

PopMatters. com‘s “10 Notable Holiday Songs of the Past 30 Years” has these as their top five:

1. Mariah Carey – “All I want for Christmas is you”.
2. Wham – “Last Christmas”
3. Bam – “Do they know it’s Christmas?”
4. Adam Sandler – “The Channakuh Song”
5. Elmo & Patsy – “Grandma got run over by a reindeer”

You can see this site’s list and listen to the songs here.

IrishCentral.com lists the “10 most annoying Christmas songs; the top five are:

1. Paul McCartney – “Simply having a wonderful Christmas time”
2. Dr. Elmo – “Grandma got run over by a reindeer”
3. Gayla Peevey – “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas”
4. John Lennon – “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
5. New Song – “Christmas Shoes”

You can see this site’s list and listen to the songshere.

The MusicMag.com has a top 11 list; it’s top five:

1. Slade – “Merry Christmas everyone”
2. The Pogues – “Fairytale of New York”
3. John Lennon – “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
4. Mariah Carey – “All I want for Christmas is you”.
5. Wham – “Last Christmas”

You can see this site’s list and listen to the songs here.

Finally, from about.com‘s top 100 list, the top five are:

1. John Lennon – “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
2. Nat King Cole – “The Christmas Song”
3. Judy Garland – “Have yourself a merry little Christmas”
4. Celine Dion – “O Holy Night”
5. The Boss and Bon Jovi – “Santa Claus is coming to town”

Some of you may be wondering, “Hey, what about my Christmas classics?”

Well, the above lists may signal a cultural shift; they may be digitally skewed or “generationally” selective. Look for a few more lists tomorrow.